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Enjoyed the episode and most things about, hands down one of the best of XY thus far. Very fast-paced stuff and it wasted no time moving along things, I feel this could have benefited from being a two-parter. We could have gotten extra things like more focus on Malamar, more Ash/Meowth tag teaming, actually seeing the XY Quartet put up a fight before being taken control of. Wouldn't it have been great for Malamar to slowly encounter each member and them trying to fight back only for their Fennekin, Chespin and Dedenne to be taken control of in their efforts to take down it down?

I agree with this massively, the episode was great and literally had no wasted moments, but your right it could have benefited from more substantial scenes. Clemont and Bonnie were gone for seconds before being brainwashed, seeing them battle would have been cool. Seeing Ash and Meowth put up more of a fight would have been cool too, like Froakie and Fletchling before being brainwashed, hell even Meowth. I want an episode where Ash is alone against everyone.

The dub music of XY is better than the dub music of BW, but yes this is very saddening, it's the main reason i actually watch the japanese version. That and because it's out first.

It's also why I try to listen to the Japanese version on mute since I don't want to get frustrated with the dub music and end up hating the episode since, aside from that, TPCI is doing just as good so far

Also, while Froakie and Fletchling would've been nice, I think they weren't included because they didn't want to shoe-horn as many characters as possible. Also, going back to your Sapphire Dragon comparison, I think it would've worked better if Meowth was the only one left and Ash was hypnotized too since it would've also avoided the whole Ash & Pikachi friendship cliché

Note: I decided to not post post that had cause hate to me anymore. If you see one, please PM me and I will delete the moment I'm aware and I'm online.
I need to take a break in the anime forum because these forum bored me.

There were parts of this episode that really worked for me and parts that didn't. Among the episodes where someone is hypnotizing the heroes, I think this is one of the better ones. Malamar was definitely a threat right up until the end and it did seem like even Ash and Pikachu's magic bond wasn't enough to break control before the machine came in at the end. Meowth scratching his face to prevent himself from being hypnotized was a great moment of competence and quick-thinking for him.

On the other hand, could they have made Serena look any more pathetic in this episode? While pretty much everyone else is taken by surprise, literally the only reason she is hypnotized is because she's scared of being scratched, even though Malamar is right there, her friends have already been hypnotized, and Meowth had already explained to the group that scratching his face was the only way he got away the first time.

I also felt like using the machine to free Pikachu was a bit of a cop-out, why not have Meowth actually do something to save the day? He has the original grudge against Malamar, this would've been a great chance to actually have him learn a new move and maybe stand up to Pikachu. It seems like the writers like to toy with the idea of having Meowth be a badass but never quite pull the trigger, which is disappointing because I think it has potential.

Malamar is definitely intriguing, I look forward to seeing what it can do in the future.

Defeated Super Single Subway Master Ingo - August 19th, 2013

Searching for: Litwick - Near Perfect IVs, Manetric (Shiny) - Good IVs, Switcheroo
Can offer high IV'd Bagons, Digletts, and Darumakas, as well as DWs, Pokerus, and more, PM me if interesting in negotiating.

The episode was amazing, I really enjoyed it. Highlights were obviously Clemont because Clemont is a boss even when mind controlled, and two weeks in a row has his machines worked for the better.

Malamar was also extremely cool. It was so dark and mysterious and the whole mind controlling thing felt really eerie. Near the end where it was explaining it's true intentions, just to get in a last minute kill before heading off was great. I honestly can't wait to see it again, it's officially the XY reincarnation of Hunter J, may she rest in peace.

Only bad thing about the episode was the animation, holy s*** was it pretty bad. Probably the worst animated episode so far imo, even the action sequences looked bad. Other than that, it was a great episode, and it was a good setup to whatever the writers have planned for us in the future.

So this wasn't mentioned yet but I have to ask, when everyone was freed from malamars control, and meowth was translating for it, did anyone else hear chanting in the music? It sounded way more intense than usual.

And btw have we ever seen a tr pokemon combine an attack with pikachu like that? Where inkay used psybeam and pikachu used thunderbolt.

since malamar was said to be the most evil pokemon, it probably would be a recurring character bringing new threats to the different places in the region of Kalos.

most of us i think had predicted that malamar won't be a one-time character even if it doesn't get owned by team flare, it would probably have its own mind to brainwash people without anyone obeying it.

So Team Flare wasn't behind Malamar's scheme? Oh well. I knew it was too good to be true. I liked how scary Malamar looked, especially at the end. The whole mind control aspect of this episode was reductive and I felt that I could skip the middle parts. By the way, Pumpkaboo and Inkay were extra cute here for some reason imo and I loved it.

So Team Flare wasn't behind Malamar's scheme? Oh well. I knew it was too good to be true.

Still a possibility. Though I might even prefer Malamar working for/with a different party, Team Flare will of course also show up at some point so that just means more recurring villains for XY. But yeah, since this was just an introduction for something, Flare is still the most likely option to be with Malamar.

Still a possibility. Though I might even prefer Malamar working for/with a different party, Team Flare will of course also show up at some point so that just means more recurring villains for XY. But yeah, since this was just an introduction for something, Flare is still the most likely option to be with Malamar.

I don't see why the writers would introduce Malamar without showing that it belongs to Team Flare. The anime isn't good at foreshadowing imo, so I don't think this is an instance of the writers trying to foreshadow Team Flare's involvement either. They should've showed Team Flare at least since we're about 20 episodes into the saga already and it's getting pretty late for the villainous team to make their debut. I don't want another Team Galactic scenario.

They should've showed Team Flare at least since we're about 20 episodes into the saga already and it's getting pretty late for the villainous team to make their debut. I don't want another Team Galactic scenario.

I fail to see how 20 episodes is so late for you on anything. Besides, TG debuted in DP036, so we're still far off from "another TG scenario" actually happening. Chillax!

The only team that appeared early was Team Magma on AG002. Team Galactic first little, very little cameo was DP036, they appeared again until DP060, Team Plasma was scheduled to appear on BW023 but due to the earthquake incident it ended up appearing after 100+ episodes or so into the saga.

So no, it's not late at all... Team Flare could appear in the 30s, 40s or even 50s of XY and as per traidition they will get 8-10 episodes overall, that's my guess.

The only team that appeared early was Team Magma on AG002. Team Galactic first little, very little cameo was DP036, they appeared again until DP060, Team Plasma was scheduled to appear on BW023 but due to the earthquake incident it ended up appearing after 100+ episodes or so into the saga.

See ? I actually enjoyed Team Rocket in this episode. If it could stay at least more serious like it did during the episode in the following ones, I'd be happy to keep them around for a while.
I think this episode was great. I was a little bit disapointed to see that Team Flare wasn't obviously involved into this but I beleive there's still a chance. Malamar was doing a neat job of scary and evil Pokémon. How it moved was just... odd and it made me shiver quite few times. I wouldn't like to be alone with it in a dark alley that's for sure.
I'm glad there was no "obvious focus". Yes, Ash and Pikachu got most of the screen time, but I didn't feel like Clemont, Bonnie or Serena was picking on the others's time; they all got equal roles.
Overall, nice episode, but it could've been much better. I definitely see Malamar coming back and I'm looking forward to it. Such an interesting Pokémon.

Damn what a great episode. Malmar was just a creepy beast. I really want who its working with and what that system it was constructing was about (still think TF). TRio was amazing this episode and Meowth stole the show. XY has really been satisfying so far and this was another great episode IMO.

No Ash, you must always go up in League ranks and hold on to every skill you've ever learned ever or else whatever experiences you've had was a waste and never happened. That's the only reason on why I'm invested in you. Ash, I'm frustrated at you for not winning the League once you average protagonist. It doesn't matter if you almost won it, make a mistake and you'll be burned to the stake.